The Green-Eyed Monster Strikes Back: Moderators and Mediators of the Relationship Between Distributive Justice and Theft

Abstract

Unfair pay can have deleterious consequences for employees because they may experience envy and engage in workplace theft when they are paid unfairly. Studies show that the fairness of outcomes, or in other words, distributive justice, does not consistently predict behaviours such as theft, and as such, there may be important mediators and moderators that influence the relationship. While the impact of distributive justice on theft is an important area of research, there is limited research on discrete emotions such as envy as a potential mediator between justice and behaviours such as theft. Affective events theory suggests that emotions generally influence how individuals respond to work events, but there is some debate about which specific emotions arise from organizational injustice. There is also some uncertainty as to which individual and situational factors reduce the effects of unfair pay. The purpose of the dissertation is to empirically test affective events theory through a model that suggests that envy partially mediates the relationship between distributive justice and theft, and to explore potential moderators that are associated with reduced theft. In particular, individual factors such as personality (e.g., honesty-humility) and a positive psychological state (e.g., psychological capital), as well situational factors (e.g., token gestures) are studied. The model is tested using a 2 (underpaid or equitably paid) x 2 (token provided or no token provided) experimental design. The validity of the findings is strengthened because different sources were used to measure the independent and dependent variables, the variables were measured at different times, and an objective measure of theft was used. The experimental design tests affective events theory and builds on self-verification theory. Practical implications for organizations include a better understanding of how employees feel when faced with unfair pay. Organizations may also reduce theft through employee screening and training initiatives.